Chapter 14

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***

After a lovely dinner, I laid down with Mina in my parents' room. It was the first time in a long time that I didn't sleep alone, but it was nice and warm. I fell asleep instantly, whether I was tired or just missed the soft bed. I had a very strange dream. Again, I didn't remember where it started, but I remembered a few things vividly. I remembered being in a forest. It was dark and I could not see what was behind the trees. At some point I heard rustling around. I became alert and grabbed what I realised was a katana from my belt. Suddenly, some silhouettes jumped out from different directions! But for some reason, I didn't move, and then I felt myself make some movement, but it felt like I was standing in the same place. When I looked around, there were bodies lying on the ground. The bodies looked like they were covered in blood, but the blood was something different. As I looked closer, I realised it was black, and that's when I saw the faces of those to whom the blood belonged. Black creatures with red casts and scaly wings on their backs. Some of their bodies were covered in wool, and their legs were as if they had hooves rather than feet. When I saw their faces, I was stunned. One had the head of a horse. Literally a horse's head with its throat cut open and the body itself not moving. The mane was completely covered in blood and the eyes were empty like a corpse's and in them I could see a vertical red pupil with a yellow iris around it, and the sclera was completely black like the resurrected ones. The others were like it, but . a different kind of look.

Then I somehow sensed that one of them was alive. I turned around to see it and slowly approached. It was a slightly different creature, but the distinguishing features were the same. Grabbing the still thrashing body by the throat and lifting it above me, I started to say something, but I didn't realise what. It was like the sound was muffled and I couldn't make anything out. I felt as if I were submerged in water, trying to hear the conversations of those on the surface. The creature coughed up blood and tried to answer something, but with each passing second I could sense more and more fear in its eyes. At the end it tried with all its might to unhook my hand from itself and run away, but all attempts were futile. Then something black and gaseous began to come out of its mouth. The creature was no longer resisting and, with its arms down, hung with its mouth open. What came out of it began to pass to me, and it was as if I was absorbing it. After this process was over, I let the breathless body go to the ground and in the same instant I jumped up sharply from the bed. I was covered in cold sweat and breathing heavily.

- What happened, Love?" I jerked, hearing a voice to my left. It was Mina. When I realised that, I calmed down and took a breath and exhaled.

- N-no, it's okay. Go back to sleep.

- Are you sure? If something happened.

- No. It's fine. You can go back to sleep. She was still looking at me with a worried look, but I was able to put her back down. Once I was sure she was asleep, I looked at the time. Five o'clock in the morning. I couldn't sleep anymore, so after getting up and getting dressed, I decided to go for a walk. Not knowing where to go, I decided to go to Hokage Mountain. The sun hadn't risen yet, and it was a little dark. Sitting on Father's head, I began to ponder what it was. It had happened before, when I'd fallen asleep in the clearing with Saki, but the dream hadn't been as distinct, and I'd quickly forgotten about it. But this time the dream was clearer and I could make out something in it. I didn't know where I was, I didn't know what I was doing, but I knew for sure that it was me and no one else. But what were these beings and what was it at the end? In the dream, I felt taller and stronger, so is it possible that-- No, it's crazy. Just a nightmare. But if it really was... I was interrupted by a beam of light hitting me in the eye. Dawn. Okay, it was just a nightmare. Nothing to think about. Afterwards, I strolled calmly towards home.

After breakfast, I gave Minami, who was going to work at the orphanage, a glance and activated the Shadow Cloning Technique. They started their usual training and I started doing chakro channels in my eyes. When I finished, I remembered yesterday's events and decided to look at the reputation window to check my reputation with Hiruzen and Shikaku, because they were looking at me suspiciously.

- Reputation Window.

Reputation window:

Residents of Konohagakure -5000

Itachi Uchiha 4500

Fugaku Uchiha 1200

Mikoto Uchiha 1300

Maito Gai 2100

Jiraiya -500

Hiruzen Sarutobi -500

Sarikawa Uchiha -1000

Iruka Umino -7000

Daruma Kenshi 5000

Minami Haruno 10,000 (Love Potion)

Shikaku Nara 1500

Shisui Uchiha 1000

Kakashi Hatake 100

Darui 1100

Shi 1000

Atsui 1000

Deidara -4000

Kurotsuchi -3000

Akatsuchi 1100

Kurama 2000

There doesn't seem to be any changes to the relationship with them, but when I was looking at the reputation with Hiruzen, I noticed something unusual. The reputation with Saki has gone into deep negative territory! How can that be?! What happened!?!?? Why did her reputation drop so low?!?! After thinking for a bit, I remembered that she and I haven't spent much time together lately. How could something like that be so bad for our reputations?! No, it doesn't. I've been out of touch with Guy for a while now, and my reputation hasn't dropped at all, though.... Yeah, that's a bad example. Still, we've got to sort this out.

I ran towards the Uchiha Quarter. We don't have any missions for a month until the third stage. Shikaku only told us to prepare for the Exam, so she's either at the Uchiha training ground or at home. We stopped training in the clearing a long time ago. When I got to her house, I asked her mother about her location. She didn't chase me away, because Itachi and I had met her parents a long time ago, and I'm on neutral ground with the Uchiha because their neighbourhood wasn't damaged in the destruction, and I'm on good terms with Fugaku, so I'm not called Demon Fox here. She told me that Saki had left to train a long time ago, but she didn't know her exact location, so after thanking her, I started searching all of the Clan's training grounds. After half a day of searching, even using clones, I didn't find her. Unable to think of anything better to do, I found Itachi who was training at one of the ranges and decided to ask him.

- Yo! Itachi!

- Oh, hey, Menma. What are you doing here?

- Hi, I was looking for Saki-chan, but I couldn't find her. Do you know where she might be?

- I haven't seen her since last night. Maybe she's training too?

- Maybe, but I didn't find her at the other training grounds.

- Hmm. Did you ask her parents?

- Yeah, her mum said she went to practice this morning.

- Then maybe she's training with Shisui?

- Shisui?

- Yes, remember? I introduced you two to each other when we were at the academy.

- Oh, yeah, I remember. But how does Saki know him?

- I introduced them recently.

- When?" I ran up to the Uchiha, causing him to stare at me with surprised eyes.

- L-about two months ago, why?

- Why didn't you tell me?

- You didn't ask. What's wrong? Something wrong?

- Y-yeah, no, it's just--

- Just?

- Forget it! So where do they train?

- In the woods near the sixth range, remember we used to spar together there?

- Yeah, I remember, thanks.

- Hey, where are you going..." I ran towards Shisui and Saki without listening to Itachi. On the way, I thought about how could this have happened? Did she really want to spend more time with him than she did with me? Had she distanced herself from me precisely because of Shisui? Then why did her reputation go down so much? You can tell from the reputation that she's very wary of me or resentful of me. But what could I do? That's fine. Without jumping to premature conclusions, I sped up.

As I approached the place Itachi had mentioned, I felt two sources of chakra. Examining them with my eyes, I saw Shisui and Sarikawa sitting by the lake, talking to each other. With the help of Sharingan, I realised that they were chatting about the past Exam. But at some point, Saki shrank back and said the following....

- But all the way to the Tower, he was acting normal again.

- You mean your and Itachi's teammate? Menma, I think?" Shisui asked, looking at Saki.

- Yeah. He didn't touch any enemy Genin the whole way, but the way he was killing the animals that got in the way.... I could hardly keep from crying," Saki hugged her knees and buried her head in them.

- Well, if he hadn't, those animals might have attacked you. There are some pretty dangerous species in the Forest of Death. It's best to kill them right away, because they could easily hurt you.

- That's not the point." Saki continued, raising her head to the brunet. "He killed them all by himself. He was pouncing on them, not to protect us, but specifically to kill these animals and.... и... and after every monster he killed, he smiled. Just like when he was killing bandits on our missions. I don't know why he got so violent. Maybe he was like that from the beginning.

- I think after his family died, killing stopped being abnormal for him. He's becoming more and more of a common killer. People like that are worse than Shinobi scum. Life is precious and shouldn't be taken from others so easily. Don't think about him. And don't try to understand him.

- Yeah, thanks, Shisui-kun, you're always there for me." smiling at him, Saki approached him for a hug, but I couldn't take it anymore and ran towards them at full speed.

- Hey you! What the hell are you talking about me?!" I closed my eyes on instinct to avoid getting caught in the Genjutsu and with my activated ones, approached him screaming and furious.

- D-daiki?!- Saki stared at me in a stupor, unable to say anything else.

- What? That guy? Shisui got into a fighting stance and tried to stop me. But out of anger, I activated Solidification on the fly and without stopping, infused my hand with chakra, using the flow, and hit him with all my might, right in his crossed arms. He flew off into the rock behind the lake and slammed into it with his back.

- Daiki! Stop! Don't...- clawing at my arm, Saki tried to stop me, but I didn't listen and threw her off with one swing. She flew away, but Shisui caught her.

- Body Flicker Technique. Saki, are you alright?" using Body Flicker, Shisui picked up Saki in mid-air and holding her in his arms, he asked her. Body Flicker is a technique that most Shinobi use to speed up. I learnt it when I was mastering the flow. It's good for speeding up in combat, but it's more of a buff than a full Technique. It can also be used for the illusion of disappearance by covering the body with smoke or other elements. - Menma Uzumaki. What do you want?

- What do I need, you say? Right now, I could use your head!!!- I rushed towards him and he put Saki down and rushed towards me as well.

- I don't know what's going on here, but right now you need to calm down.

- And you shouldn't talk back to people!!! we clashed in Taijutsu. I fought as hard as I could, but he was surprisingly faster than me. I could only hold out with strength and fortification.

- I didn't say anything against you.

- Oh, yeah? Who just called me a murderer?! You thought nobody heard you?

- Didn't you? By your actions, you're just proving my point. Shinobi may be killers, but no one enjoys it or treats it as normal. Calm down and don't make yourself look worse. Look at Saki, you're scaring the hell out of her. Do you think she'll change her attitude towards you if you continue?!" opening my eyes, I looked at Saki and saw that she was shaking and crying looking at us. I...I didn't know what to say. Then I looked over to Shisui and saw the Sharingan in his eyes, and then I passed out....

***

When I woke up, it was already evening. I looked up and saw Itachi sitting next to me, looking up at the sky covered in stars.

- You're awake at last? How are you feeling?" After a few seconds, I finally came to my senses and remembered everything that had happened. Then I stood up and put my head down and said.

- I screwed up, didn't I?" Itachi only grinned bitterly and looked me in the eye.

- You screwed up. Shisui left to walk Saki home. She was all freaked out. You want to tell me what happened?

- I was jealous of Shisui-san and got angry.

- I see. Is that it?

- No, I was angry because Shisui called me a murderer, but I only proved his point by trying to attack him.

- Well, you did kill a lot when we were on missions to take out bandits. You spared no one and smiled when they died. Even I was scared sometimes." Itachi said with a slight chuckle.

- Really?" I smiled bitterly to myself.

- True, but I think you're just too focused on becoming a shinobi. After your family died, all you did was train, and after you got your protector, you did one mission after another.

- But that's why we have a good track record for one-year Genin," I blurted out.

- Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. You've worked harder than we have in training and on missions. I can understand that, but I don't think Saki could.

- What am I supposed to do?

- Apologise to her? I think that's a good option.

- Yes.

- Don't forget to tell her you love her," Itachi said with a smile, which made me blush and look away. "By the way, for your information, Shisui and Saki aren't dating. He was just helping her study for the Chunin Exam.

- R-really?

- Really, really, really, so you have a pretty good chance.

- Yeah, thanks.

- Shall we go home?

- Let's go...-the reason my reputation with her fell was because of her fear of me. Well, I did kill a lot on missions, but I only did it to accumulate Soul Crystals and... I guess I still don't fully see the people of this world as real. I still see anime characters, and I only saw bandits as someone to kill. Is it the world that has affected me so much that I can easily kill someone? Or was it that I felt I was the one who could kill? I don't know. Maybe I should learn to see this whole world not as anime, but as reality.....

The next day I went to Shisui's house and apologised to him, and then I went to Saki's house and asked her to talk to me. My reputation with her dropped another 500 yesterday, and if I don't apologise, I think we'll stop communicating altogether. Walking to the clearing where we used to train before, I stopped and turned around to face her and made a deep bow.

- I'm sorry, Saki-chan. I acted too stupid and reckless yesterday. I scared you a lot and misunderstood your conversation with Shisui-san. I also apologise for all the times you got scared on missions. I promise to change and never take killing people so lightly again. So please forgive me. "Saki was silent and thought for a long time. I didn't get up and stood like that until she finally spoke-.

- Okay, I understand you. Itachi-kun explained to me why you've been acting like that all this time. Please raise your head and don't apologise anymore. Peace?

- Peace. One more thing, Saki-chan. I was going to say.

- Hm? What?

- Saki-chan, I like you! Let's go out!!!" I shouted out out of sheer emotion. No, not out of emotion, I had wanted to say it for a long time, but I kept putting it off. I waited for her to reply and thought that my reputation with her had already been repaired since she forgave me, but it turned out not to be like that....

- I'm sorry Dai-kun, but I'm in love with someone else. You may have misunderstood what I said, and I forgive you, but it's better if we don't talk anymore. I understand your feelings, but I've been in love with Shisui for a long time. I'm sorry again." After saying that, I just blacked out and didn't listen to her any further. At that moment, my consciousness just faded away and I stared through her without moving. She said something else and walked away, leaving me alone in the clearing. I didn't know what to think or what to do. I just stood there and that was it, and I stood like that until nightfall, not moving an inch.

Reputation:

Sarikawa Uchiha -500

So that's it. So, did I just get blown off? Does that mean I'm so bad that she couldn't love me? Or maybe I should have just thought of her sooner? No, if she not only didn't love me, but she didn't want to hang out with me anymore, then it's me. And I don't even have anything to blame her for, nothing to be angry about or hate. I'm just a moron that no one can love.

Then, at some hour of the night, Mina came to me. Mina, she's the only one who loves me, but even she only loves me because of the potion. Doesn't anyone really love me because I'm me? That's how it turns out. I'm not OYASH or a cool Bisyonen. I'm still the same sixteen-year-old guy that no one cares about and that every girl will blow off. No one can love me without a potion, voluntarily, I realise that now.....

Mina was very worried about me, and I just asked her to walk me home. I could hardly walk properly without hitting the first wall that came my way. When I got home, I just went to bed, ignoring the memory of the dispersed Clones who had been distracting the ANBU and training all that day. The next month went melancholy for me, and every day all I did was eat, train, do chakro-channels and sleep, or at least shit, as they say. Mina took care of me the whole time, never leaving my side. Naruto was looked after by her and my clones, who had also become like me. And yet, a month later, the third Stage began, which I decided not to go to, but....

***

One evening, when the third Stage was a few days away, I sat quietly on the couch and created eye channels. Sitting on my lap was Mina, looking at me with interest.... just like Saki, but I didn't pay attention to her then, I didn't pay much attention to anyone then.

- Sweetheart, the Third Stage of the Chunin Exam is coming up, isn't it?

- Yes," I answered briefly, so as not to break my concentration.

- I'll be there to cheer you on, so show everyone, okay, Love?

- No.

- Why not? I won't shout loudly, I'll just watch and cheer for you quietly, I promise. No one will recognise me. Mina was looking at me with puppy dog eyes.

- No, ha-ah.-I lost my concentration and looked at her indignantly.

- I'm sorry, Love. I won't do it again...- with eyes wet from about to cry, Mina looked at me.

- Heh-heh, that's not the point. I'm not going to participate in the exam.

- What?!" she stared at me in confusion.

- I don't care about the exam. Let them disqualify me if they want to." She suddenly jumped up and put her face in my face and said.

- What about becoming a Chunin?! You have to become a Chunin!

- What are you talking about? - I sincerely did not understand her, but my face still did not reflect any emotion.

- You said you were going to get Naruto out of the orphanage soon!

- И?

- You're going to take him into your clan, aren't you?

- What clan?

- What clan? The Uzumaki Clan! I've been doing a lot of research on you and your brother, and I know that Kushina-san, wife of the Fourth Hokage, started a clan in the village to take in lost Uzumaki. But she was the only one in it, and she couldn't find any other Uzumaki. You are her son and heir to the Clan. You can rebuild it and accept Naruto into it! That would be the easiest way to get him." I felt my eyes widen at her words. Why didn't I know about this? Why didn't I think of it? It's a good idea. And a lot better than... ahem, okay. Forget the last plan and adopt this one, but...

- What does this have to do with the Exam?

- Only Shinobi of Chunin rank or higher can become Clan Head. A realisation came into my head. I have to participate and no other way. If that's true, then I must become a Chunin as soon as possible!

- Mina... I don't know how to thank you.- after that, she abruptly approached me, even though the distance between us was only 10 centimetres, and hugged me hard.

- Beloved smiled!!! This is the best gratitude!!! Thank you, Lover!!! - I felt that my shoulder started to get wet. After that, an even greater realisation came to me. Why was I so sour? Was it the girl? But that's no reason to leave my own brother and Mina, my girlfriend. It was stupid to be so down and depressed. I shouldn't have forgotten about my loved ones. The people I care about the most are Naruto and Mina. Now I'll do my best just to take care of them. I will only think of them now. Hugging Mina in return, I started stroking her head and reassuring her.

- Okay, Mina. I'll be involved and I won't act like this again. Come on, smile." and used Bisyonen's Smile, quite casually.

- Darling, you're back to your old self, I'm happy.

- Do you want to be even happier?" she looked at me blankly at first and then nodded her head. "After I join the Naruto Clan, will you join it too?

- YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!- she shrieked and hugged me again, and this time she didn't intend to let go. I just put my hand on the top of her head and stroked it, thinking about what was to come. That's how we fell asleep that night....

***

The next day, after I came to my senses and was no longer in a state of melancholy, I decided to use another way to strengthen myself. I remember Naruto had mastered Toad Summoning before Stage 3, so what's stopping me from doing Free Summoning? That I might get thrown into the wrong place? Well, you don't have to worry about that at all. As I learnt at the Auction, the summoning worlds are not other worlds, they're just shards of our world. That's why time flows differently in different Worlds of Calling, it's a peculiarity of one shard or another. It follows that the Worlds of Invocation are still parts of this world, which means that my unique ability will work! That means I won't end up in a world where I'm 100% likely to pass out. And I wonder what kind of summoning I'll have. Whoo! I can't wait!!!

Going out to the back range of my house, I folded the seals that I learnt from the same Auction, bit my finger, the pain threshold, by the way, I have quite high, from birth still used to it.

- I shouted, hitting the ground with my palm. After that, symbols and seals flew from my hand to all sides of the surface. A haze formed around me, and when it cleared, I wasn't where I was. When I looked around, I was stunned. I was standing on top of what appeared to be a mountain. It wasn't quite ordinary, very narrow and grey, and it looked more like a peak. And there were many such peaks, but they were about a few kilometres apart and very high. So high that there were clouds below me at a distance of five hundred metres. I had trouble breathing and was all cold at first, but I was able to fix that by covering my body with chakra using flow.

I stared at all of this for a long time until I noticed some sort of silhouette in the distance. Looking closer and turning my eyes on it, I realised it was a bird. But it was much further away than I first thought and was approaching at a very high speed. I was scared and didn't know what to do, but this bird didn't give me time to think of anything. In a couple of seconds it was already very close and after approaching about a hundred metres, it started to stop. From the sight of this creature I was stunned even more than from the view of the surroundings. A giant-sized white bird was waving its white, but black wings in the tips of its feathers in front of me. The sight of it made me stiffen almost as much as the first time I'd met a full-blown Fox, and the flapping of its wings made me struggle to keep my feet on the ground with the help of my chakra, bracing my legs against the ground. But he didn't reek of hostility or anything. He just stared at me with a studying gaze. I couldn't get a word out, and he just kept quiet. We stood like that for a minute, and then he flew closer to me and hooked his claws into the peak. Lowering his body to my level, he held his face with his beak right in front of me. Then I heard the thunderous voice of the creature.

- Man, get on my back. I will take you to the chief." he said, opening his beak, but the strange thing was that he did not move it. But without thinking about it, I jumped on his back, and then he started flapping his wings again and flew in the direction he came from. The hardest part was to stay on his back, but I managed to do it. We were flying very fast and the views from this height were even better. After a while I saw some more birds that were smaller but also very big. Some of them were batting at each other and some were just flying around. Every minute there were more and more of them and with their size some started to resemble the one I was flying now. He, by the way, didn't say a word after he started flying. His face seemed calm and relaxed to me.

After half an hour of flying, I saw a huge mountain ahead of me, twice as tall as all the others. All the surrounding birds were flocking to it and it looked like some sort of nest. There were many caves there, but most of the birds were not in them, and only a few of them flew in, changing their form to humanoid beforehand. We were approaching the largest cave and as we descended on its entrance, this bird said to me.

- You can get down. We'll go on from here.-I silently obeyed and got off him. Then it began its transformation. His wings moved to his back and his arms, also covered with feathers, came out of them. His body began to take on a humanoid form, and there he stood before me, two metres tall, with two wings, legs and arms. And his face remained the same. After his transformation, he walked deep into the torch-lit cave. I followed him, and in a few minutes we were in a giant stone hall. Inside, there was a throne on which sat a humanoid Eagle.

- You may go.

- Yes.-this chief of theirs kept his eyes on me, and then, when my first acquaintance had gone, he began to speak.

- The boy from the prophecy, what is your name?" he did not change his expression and spoke in a monotone.

- M-my name is Menma Uzumaki.

- Menma Uzumaki, then.

- Erm, I'm sorry.

- М?

- Why did you call me the boy from the prophecy? I don't think I'm...

- A boy with eyes the colour of the deep ocean will one day come to us and ask us to sign a contract. Soon after, he will gain the power to subdue the legendary clan of gods and rule the world. That's what the spirit prophecy said. Other than you, no humans have come to our world for over a hundred years. No one else can be the boy from the prophecy but you. Human, have you come to sign the draft contract with us?

- Yes. That's why I'm here.

- Good. The prophecies of the spirits have never been wrong and cannot be changed. Therefore, there is no reason to test you, for there is no point in doing so. I, Whitehead, am the leader of all Birds of Prey and the strongest creature in this world. From this moment on, our tribe will sign a contract with you and answer your call. But before that, you will have to get to know us better and learn to fight with us together. So you will need to stay here for a month until your training is complete. It'll only be one week in your world. Sign the contract and follow the man who brought you here. His name is Squirrelbluff and he'll teach you everything. Now go. It was as if he knew what he was going to say and just dictated his text. Oh, well. The main thing is that this situation is perfect for me. And they're pretty interesting and powerful creatures. Whitebelly's original size was only slightly inferior to Kurama's, and how big that leader, Whitehead, is. He lived up to his name, by the way. His head was white and I'd even say it looked bald, but that wasn't the point. His body was brown and his claws and beak looked very powerful. But the most important thing was his concentration of Chakra. Kurama surpasses him in that again, of course, but I haven't seen any other Tails, so assuming they have less and less power with each tail, this one could very well match up to Four-Tails. So the situation is no better, but I'm concerned about what he said about the prophecy. I'll have to ask him more about that later. So, I began to settle in with my new summoning and prepare for the upcoming Exam....